The actor portraying Girdwood is top notch. This whole time I'm convinced his characters been secretly dealing with PTSD. He prides himself on rigorous spartan demeanor but hes constantly flustered and flummoxed. It's like the actor was told to love the military but show fear to its basic uniforms.
he was actually removed from service during the Irish Rebellion for getting lost and losing his unit out of sheer incompetence. Simmerson (being a kindred spirit) pulled him back into service using his influence. Unlike Lawford, he has done nothing to earn respect.
His rigorous attention to his own uniform, including the meticulous stiffening of his mustaches, and his iron discipline inside the camp, is his way of overcompensating for his complete lack of nerve in combat, and convincing himself that he's actually a good soldier - not just a good soldier, but Frederick the Great reborn, if only someone would give him the chance to prove it.
Fast forward to WW II, USA, 101st Airborne, Easy Company, Captain Sobel, a ruthless, petty martinet, an excellent trainer of men but incompetent in the field..
In the book, John Lynch was Irish and changed his name from Sean and converted to Anglicanism to be “superior” to the other Irish. Hence why he gets mauled to death by the Irish troops in the battalion during the battle in the epilogue.
@Jack Tangles "Best" isn't a word that has any meaning any more. I'm sure foundries all over the world can make cutlery and many can make it with stainless steel. But only one city in the world has the right to make cutlery, blades, tools, stamped "Sheffield Steel" or "Made in Sheffield". Our metalworks industry is small indeed now, but it's there. And its products bear the name.
@Jack Tangles You'd have to ask someone else for the specifics. Sheffield has a long and storied history in metalworking, and in days gone by the city was filled from horizon to horizon with steelworks, metalworks, manufactories, finishing plants and the like. We were a global powerhouse of industry. These days, Sheffield's role has turned towards a partnership between the city's two universities, and local high-tech companies such as Boeing and Rolls Royce. Sheffield's industry has expertise in nuclear reactor fabrication and design and a newly emerging reputation for specialist precision manufacturing. Sheffield is also home to a variety of fast expanding IT companies and service providers. So the city really is diversifying itself. But still now, there is still The Worshipful Company of Cutlers, in Hallamshire (a geographical definition that is archaic enough to have no real meaning any more) with its quarters in the city center, that cements Sheffield's continued status as a premier manufacturer of very high quality cutlery, blades, and steel. I work in IT though, not in fabrication or in the steel industry. There are people better qualified than me to answer your questions. Give Quora a try, maybe (no, sincerely) :-)
@Jack Tangles I've done VERY little research, but it looks like the actual business end of your set of cutlery was manufactured, stamped, sharpened in Sheffield from Sheffield steel. My guess is after the blades or other pieces were made and stamped, they were shipped to Australia, where they were further finished, fitted with handles etc, and sold under the name 'Grosvenor', which is a trading name for the Australian company Mytton Rodd. It looks like your old cutlery has Australian finishings and fixings, but the actual steelwork and bladework was done in Sheffield.
@Jack Tangles That's quite awesome. Genuine Sheffield Plate is pretty old these days. Silver-on-copper Sheffield Plate is the gold (if you'll excuse the misnomer) standard. From 1820 onwards, German silver (silver on a base of 60% copper/20% nickel/20% zinc) was the new go to standard. 1840 is when the rolling of and creation of Sheffield Plate largely stopped, and for mass production, we just went over to electroplating, directly depositing silver onto other metals. But apparently even now, in small batches and for certain reasons, genuine traditional Sheffield Plate is still made here.
conspiring with the british army's most storied officer to avenge your husband's wrongful death and relieve your debt to a well-protected and high status criminal... now that's ladying.
"...and that, on your shako badge, is the eagle he [Harper] took from the French [whacks hat off desk] with me, on that bloody day." Awesome line and delivery. In that moment, Girdwood knew he was up against real combat soldiers.
Interestingly had Sharpe been in Hornblower’s navy there would have been a better chance of him being commissioned than in the Army. The Navy was much more of a meritocracy and did not use the purchase system, commissions had to be earned by examination. Seamanship and navigation were essential qualifications and much prized. It was not unknown for ordinary sailors to “ pass aft through the hawse” and to achieve commissioned rank. Where they would struggle is through lack of patronage to advance beyond the rank of lieutenant. They would be known as “Tarpaulin” officers and any commands they held would largely be on small, unrated vessels. It wasn’t all bad news, James Cook achieved promotion all the way through to Post Captain, he began as a Merchant Navy apprentice.. Better educated, wealthier men started as boys in the rank of midshipman and learned their craft that way in the harsh environment of the midshipmen’s berth but if they didn’t pass their exam to lieutenant there they stayed. Grey haired midshipmen weren’t unknown. Whereas Army Officers drew almost entirely from the landed gentry, in the Royal Navy it was possible to rise to seniority from comparatively more humble beginnings. In fiction Hornblower was the son of a doctor, in reality Nelson was the son of a Vicar. Field commissions in the Army were far rarer and they were not regarded by the officers or men as the real thing, they were unable to support themselves in the mess and were given menial tasks, they were not regarded as fit to lead. Sharpe is a fighter through and through, he is a soldier’s soldier and earns his place by proving his worth time and again. The underlying irony is that he is far more of a gentleman than most of the so called gentlemen he encounters..
Well written and explained Mark - there's a lot of subtext that isn't necessarily understood by a casual viewer who doesn't understand British military. I always wondered how would Sharpe have done if he had served during the Crimean War - would he have been sacrificed with his men - or during World War 1 on the Western Front?
James Rawlins I think he would’ve succeeded in any of those conflicts, he was written that way by Bernard Cornwell. Can you imagine Squadron Leader Sharpe in WW2 fighting in the Battle of Britain in command of a squadron of misfits and rogues with Flight Sergeant Harper as his wingman? 😀
Mark Spice - Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington did just that with VMF-214 in the Pacific theatre of operations. There was a TV series that was even made about Pappy and VMF-214 called “ Baa Baa Black Sheep “.
I was 16 when I first watched this series at that time i knew or understand very little english but still grasped every thing. This shows spirit is beyond the comprehension of any language. I admire lt colonel sharpe, he should have been promoted to full colonel in series.
He did finish up as a full Colonel. In "Sharpe's Waterloo" he is made a Lieutenant Colonel of the 5th Belgian Light Dragoons. However, they appear to have either deserted or gone over to the French side. By the end of the episode/book, he leads the South Essex in an attack to repulse the Old Guard and is given a battlefield promotion to full Colonel and then assigned formal command of his old battalion which he has for a month before retiring back to his farm. Not bad for a rank and file soldier to end up a full Colonel
@@atruemanofculture1521 Yes he had retired to be a farmer in France. Wellington asked him to go to India to stop an uprising, he refused until he learnt Harper was there and reported missing. Wellington was calling him Colonel Sharpe.
I always loved it when eventually Sharpe wins each week... but when he says to Girdwood, "No, I command here" with that wonderful, shit eating smirk of victory and validation on his face. 😂😂😂 I could watch that a thousand times (I probably have) because it NEVER gets old!
Much of Sharpe's authority comes from his force of personality more than his rank. He also resorts to selective bullying over weaker men of subordinate and superior ranks. It works. To be fair, Sharpe does not threaten or bully good, dedicated, professionally -committed men.
Or rather he cannot bully professional men, the "good officers" as he calls them. Men like Fredrickson, Wellington, Munro, Ross, Lawford and Peter D'Alembord have no flaws he can exploitm
IIRC there were murdering officers - who killed the men under them for their own means and/or due to their incompetence, such as Girdwood - and killing officers - whose men died /despite/ the officer's efforts to obey orders with as many men surviving as possible. Sharpe knew the difference and respected the latter - after all he was one.
Perfect role for Bean. He played Sharpe exactly how a combat officer of the time should act. No time for incompetents, do your job on the battlefield and you're all right with Major Richard Sharpe.
Exactly how a combat officer of the time should act? Or would act? You're talking about a time when rich noblemen bought their commissions in the military and people like Sharpe (army) or Thomas Cochrane (navy) who were recruited up through the ranks were rare sights that were bullied by "gentlement" officers exactly like Colonel Henry Simmerson does with Sharpe. These battles were literally war games to nobles with very little consequences to the officers who were ransomed as the men were killed. Competence was for the poor, money could buy your mistakes so mistakes didn't matter as long as you had the clout to sweep them under the rug. That's how someone like Colonel Simmerson made General despite his long list of failures including losing the kings colours which he was acquitted for on account of friends in high places (nepotism).
Well Sharpe was a real Mustang, the term for one who has risen through the ranks from the enlisted and EARNED his place among the officer corps. In the Navy we held in very high respects any officer who came from this path, and not so much those who didn't.
@@jebbroham1776 The Navy wasn't much different. Read the story of Thomas Cochrane. A lieutenant who worked his way up the ranks in the Navy. He was basically a real life version of Sharpe, except in the Navy. Despite constantly performing above and beyond his station with less resources than anyone of the same station he was constantly snubbed by his superiors and commanders because he was from a lesser noble family.
Bless HRH the Duke of York. His abilities weren't suited for field command but he was a fine administrator of the British Army at Horse Guards, genuinely caring for the men's welfare.
Slapping a superior officer across the face with his own cane while taking over a battalion by claiming authority that you don’t actually have. Now that’s soldiering.
kettch777 He did not have any authority to take over the regiment. He threw the Duke of York’s name around to intimidate Girdwood, but by this point he knows enough about Girdwood’s personality to know that he wouldn’t resist.
@@AdmRose he did, Girdwood was abusing his rank and so as an unfit officer, Sharpe (a Fit officer), took over command of the regiment for the war effort
I like how he broke the Colonel's cane. It seems petty, but there's a reason. Upon the Colonel's conviction, he would be cashiered as part of the punishment and breaking his cane is part of the cashiering process, as well as tearing away all rank badges and gilt from his uniform, all decoration such as lace and buttons, tearing badges and plumes from his shako, and ripping the shoulders of his dress uniform, all symbolic of his rank being stripped in disgrace. By breaking the Colonel's cane there and then, Sharpe got the satisfaction of being a part of his cashiering and more or less getting the ritual humiliation started HIMSELF.
Actually no, Sharpe is only a major, while Girdwood is a lieutennant colonel, in the British army like most others Lieutennant colonel outranks major. But Sharpe was pretending to be acting under the authority of the Commander in Chief of the British army, the Duke of York, so his “orders” would’ve overruled Girdwood if they were real
Lawford is still a gentleman, plus a scandal like that in a time of war has to be dealt with quietly. Like Wellington Lawford had political ambitions after the war so had to keep things as quiet as possible.
An Irish actor, playing an Irish-hating English colonel, is accosted by an English actor playing an Irish-loving English major. Meanwhile, outside, an Irish actor - playing an Irish sergeant-major - confronts an Irish-hating Irishman, played by a Northern Irish actor. Irishing an Englishman while doing the Irish, whilst simultaneously Irishing everything? Now that's Irish.
I tried that line on a traffic warden in Chelsea. Me: "by what authority can you give me that ticket" Traffic warden: "on the authority of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea" Me: " you cannot Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Me sir, I am aware of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and they are well aware of me!" Would have been so awesome if he got the reference... But he didn't.
ethan hatcher Trying to change the ‘now thats soldiering’ thread making ‘now thats soldiering’ not fun and thus only making the ‘now thats soldiering’ people more determined to carry on soldiering, now thats soldiering.
Girdwood wasn’t a Lt. col but, was in fact, a full colonel. His rank insignia would suggest he was a Lt. colonel by modern British army standards, however, during the napoleonic wars, rank was depicted slightly differently. A lt. col would wear a single crown on each epaulette, much like a major does today.
I believe in the book (Sharpe's Regiment) he was depicted as a lt. col. They may have changed it up for the series, or it might all be chalked up to a costuming error. Thanks for the neat fact! I certainly wouldn't have caught it!
The once said of Obadiah that he bullied men til their wives came to him offering sex. And Sharpe called it a form of rape and hated it. So hearing how this lady is being treated got him on her side immediately. But then, speaking as a woman ...... That might be the only way Obadiah could have got tail with out paying! Lord Fenner was rich ..... That's his only difference.
Must say Girdwood put up a pretty good psychological last stand. He was pretty much confronted by an apex predator with a fabled reputation and the King's good will, ready to rip his head off, and he still tried to brass it out...
For a moment I thought he was going to try and sneak in to obtain the evidence but the man just straight up walked through the front door and demanded it.
Best series ITV has ever shown. The stuff they put on thesedays is garbage in comparison. Silly cop shows going around asking questions or celebrity outback or on boats or thenlack of talent shows. Now that's boring
That actress, Caroline Langrishe, was in a light, humourous series with an actor who has played the heavy many times: Ian McShane. "Lovejoy" was the show. She's got a lovely accent and portrayed the same calm class seen here.
It would've never worked out. Hornblower was the son of a doctor. He was educated. He was honourable. Sharpe however was illegitimate. Illiterate. A gutter born street fighter. A 'proper bastard' if you like. I'm sure they would've recognized each others ambitions; but beyond that they would have nothing in common.
I love how only Wellington can make him be polite and respectful. Even the exploring officiers learn to speak carefully to him. And the Regent, Sharpe will be polite, but thinks of him as an idiot officier.
Lady Camoynes is too smart and too canny for Sharpe. He would not be able to love her so much as he did Jane, Teresa or Lucille due to her independent personality. Anne likes him, even sleeps with him in Sharpe's Justice but she doesn't actually love him.
Quite mental equals. It could have worked if he wasn't blinded by romantic notions of what 'a lady' was as portrayed by Jane. I think see Lady Camoynes would have handled him properly. Even been a powerful force getting him promoted and appreciated more by the establishment. She certainly never gave up on him and kept popping up. Sadly her timing was off. First when he was saving poor lost, beaten Jane, then when he was stationed in UK and pining for Lucille.
